Tribuneral
by Arytra
Summary: 3rd part of the Power Mentors Universe. It leads in to the final story of the trilogy. The aftermath of Mentoring 101 comes back to bite the family, but it also leads into learning what will be happening next.


"Doctor O? Kim?" Conner's voice had shock within as he looked at his two mentors who were fighting off several people in their way. Kim looked furious as she ducked and weaved, throwing out a fist or kick here or there. Tommy was doing less of a job of getting to him, but he was more proactive about fighting. Kira had run to get the raptors back indoors while Ethan had hardened his skin to make his way to the computer. Conner could hear that he'd already managed to call Trent, who teleported in a minute later. Yet, while all of this went on, Conner could only look down at his wrists as the alien handcuffs restricted him. The two officers who held him had made sure that any perceived attack would be countered. They'd also chained his legs so he couldn't run. Not that he would have considering he was still too much in shock to do so.

"Conner?" Trent asked. "What's…?"

"I don't know," he answered. "They came in, did this, and told me I was under arrest."

The two of them shared a look and Conner's eyes closed. He could guess what it was about. In his mind, he could see Scorpina dying in front of him. He could feel the horror rushing through him and Red's gentle snout making sure he would be okay. During that minute, Trent was grabbed from behind and the former White Dino Ranger made a surprised noise. As he tried to break away, a voice rang through the commotion. "Enough!"

They all turned to look at a minotaur who walked down, arms clasped behind his back. He turned to Tommy and Kim and gave a bow before doing the same to Ethan and Conner. He looked at Tommy again afterward. "My apologies for the entrance," he said. "My second made the call before I could arrive."

"What's going on here?" Tommy demanded. The minotaur's expression stayed stony, but Conner could see a bit of regret in his eyes. He was also pretty sure that Doctor O couldn't considering his mentor and teammate was clenching his fists.

"King Thomas," the man said. "I am Lieutenant Taldorn of the Galactic SPD. I have a warrant for Prince Conner."

Conner looked at him, trying to stand to his full height, but the way he was held made that impossible. Trent made his way to Conner and stood beside him. "You're a still a prince?"

"It's a thing," Conner muttered.

"What are the charges?" Trent asked.

Taldorn looked at him. "You are?"

"Prince Trent," Ethan said quickly. Taldorn paused for a moment as if he was trying to remember before nodding.

"Ah. The traitorous son," he said. Conner managed to get his wits together.

"Magic spell, dude," he said, feeling more than awkward that he was the one defending Trent. "It happens."

Taldorn paused for a moment and his demeanor changed. He looked at the guards with him. "Leave us. I wish to talk to the family alone."

"But Lieutenant!"

"That's an order!" He snarled. The other officers raced out as Kira entered. Tommy motioned for her to keep the raptors out, which she did as she came back down. Taldorn motioned for them to move together and encouraged them to sit which none of them took. "Prince Conner, you were the Red Ranger for your team, correct?"

"Yeah," Conner said. Taldorn nodded.

"I contacted your advisor when I found out this was happening," he said. "We on Melanor do try to keep up with Earth. As I'm sure your ambassador has informed you, you are the Royal Family here on Earth. What do you know about Red Rangers?"

"They're the leaders," Kira said. "They lead the team."

"They're also responsible for the team," he said, his voice sounding a bit more gentle. "When Prince Conner was given the Red Ranger powers, he became responsible for the team: both for their welfare and for any faults they had."

He let that go in as Trent looked at him, eyes wide. "You can't blame him for what I did!" Trent exclaimed. "I wasn't even part of the team."

"Usually, I'd agree with you," Taldorn said, sounding a bit stern as he looked Trent in the eyes before it smoothed back out again. "But the business with Scorpina and the breaking of the Power's rules also came in. It came down to either both of you being under arrest or only Prince Conner. The truth is, it would look a little too bad for Earth if both young men were arrest, Your Majesties. The Council would probably try to get in another guardian."

"So Conner should just accept blame for what I did?" Trent asked, looking horrified. "That's not fair!"

"That's politics," Kim said. "Right?"

"Exactly," Taldorn answered. "I can't just let him go, Your Majesties. But I will tell you that Ambassador Cranston is working on a solution. He told me to tell you call him when we're done here. I have the warrant right here."

Conner glanced around to see that all of them looked ready to put up another fight which they'd probably lose and get arrested with him. Billy would get him out of this. The Blue Ranger wouldn't let them down especially since this was his fault that Earth thought of them as royalty in the first place. Which, in Conner's eyes, was still stupid. "Lieutenant?"

"Yes, Your Highness?" He said politely.

"If I do this, they can't charge Trent later, can they?" He asked, not bothering with the honorifics at the moment.

"No," Taldorn said. "And I will remind them of that if they try."

Conner licked his lips and then nodded. "For the record, I think this whole thing is stupid, but okay."

"Conner!" Both Tommy and Kim called out, though Tommy's was a bit more of a growl. He looked at them and gave a half smile.

"They're going to arrest me anyway. You guys shouldn't be on trial with me," he said, not mentioning that he'd need their support. Trent looked ready to protest and Conner shook his head at the former White Ranger. "Trent, I've got this."

"It's not your fault…" he started and Conner gave him a look.

"It's not your fault either," he answered. "You weren't there for the wedding. These people? Think you're my brother. And since you're the baby of the family…"

"We decided 'age' by 'place in team hierarchy'," Ethan explained when Trent looked at him. Trent nodded and looked back at Conner.

"Let me do this," he said. "Doctor O? Can you call Erik and let him know. I don't want him to freak."

"I've got it," Tommy assured him. "Conner, I'm calling Andros as soon as we're done here. We'll be right behind you."

"I know," Conner said "Trent?"

"Yeah?"

"If… they do find me guilty, will you move back to Reefside?" Conner asked, trying to sound easy-going and failing a bit. Trent blinked and Conner knew that the former White Ranger knew what he was asking.

"Yeah. I'll move back," he promised. "But then I'm going to be learning every stupid law and every loophole and you can go back to being the Crowned Prince."

Conner gave him a look before snickering. Trent matched it as well as Ethan. Kira rolled her eyes. Conner forced the grin, certain that they had this handled. "See you soon!"

* * *

When they arrived, Taldorn led him down the hall and into a large chamber room with seating surrounding it. No one was inside yet, which meant Conner felt a bit better and even better when

after a minute, the doors opened again as Kira and Ethan rushed in and wrapped their arms around him. Trent followed them in and clasped his hand. After Ethan and Kira let go, Kim pulled him to her while Tommy set a hand on his shoulder and then on Trent's as well. "We called Billy. He said he'd take care of it."

"Did he tell us what we need to do?" Conner asked. Tommy shook his head.

"He's never been to a tribunal, Conner. But he's handling it," Tommy answered. "We didn't have time to wait for him."

He wasn't able to add anything else as the room started to fill in. Tommy kept his hand on Conner's shoulder and stood to his full height. To his side, he saw Kim do the same though she stayed with the three others, even gently pulled Trent back to her side with the other two. He looked at her in surprise, but she still faced forward. After a couple of seconds, each of the Dino Thunder Rangers followed their mentor's example and tried to look as determined as possible. Conner just kept looking forward though he wanted to look over at Tommy or Kim or the others for their support.

As they filed in, Conner was able to take stock of the various races that he recognized from the wedding. He also recognized the extra people who had arrived: Trey of Triforia was standing next to the Triforian councilor. The Aquitian Rangers were standing with their councilor and over in another area looking displeased, and there were more Kerovians than he would have thought. Eltar didn't have any excess people, but their councilor did smile over at the group and looked a little amused by the whole thing. He felt a little insulted by that since Eltar was supposed to be an ally. The council eventually quieted themselves as Taldorn stepped forward and gave a quick bow.

"Councilors, High Councilor Jalindor, I bring you Prince Conner McKnight of Earth," he said. "Former Red Ranger of the Dino Thunder Rangers."

"Your highness," Jalindor, who Conner quickly was able to place as a Nocturia or one of the bat people, said. "Do you understand what you're being charged with?"

"I'm being charged with letting Tre- err… my White Ranger go crazy even though he was evil at the time and it's not my fault, dude…" Conner said. Taldorn cleared his throat and Conner dropped it. "And of breaking the Never Escalate a Battle rule."

"Very well. Let the trial commence," he said. Conner's eyes widened.

"Wait! Don't I get representation or something?" He asked in a panic. He half-way noticed Taldorn's eyes also narrowed slightly.

"Did you bring any?" Jalindor asked politely. Conner shook his head and Jalindor looked a bit apologetic. "Then I'm afraid not."

"Actually, he did." The entire proceeding turned to look at the door as Billy and the Astro Rangers stepped through, flanking a man in Eltarian robes and a small smile on his face. The rest of the council looked shocked and immediately started to talk as he kept moving forward. "Well, rather Zordon did."

"You, of all people, would invoke Zordon's name?!" One of the reptilian people snarled. "You're only here because he died, Zedd."

"Ambassador Zedd," he corrected and looked over at the Eltarian representative whose smile showed he'd seen this coming. "I believe that's correct, Councilor?"

"That's what they voted," he said with a slight, amused snort. "I tried for three other people first, but they started to write your name in. 'Zordon would have wanted it that way'."

"Thus here I am," Zedd said, not insulted in the least. The Eltarian Representative looked far too pleased to actually be annoyed. Billy and the rest of the Astro Rangers had taken seats near Tommy and Kim. Tommy raised an eyebrow at his friend who just shrugged while Zedd continued. "Zordon had it in writing that he wanted representation available for any Earth Ranger who needed it. It hasn't come up before now, but it was stated he wanted that person to be connected to Eltar. Eltar voted that its ambassador should hold that roll, of which, I am."

He sat down next to Conner who looked at him. "Doctor O is going to be pissed," he whispered.

"Kimberly won't be," Zedd whispered back. "I sent them a beautiful wedding gift."

"Ambassador!" The same counsel member who had protested before called out. "I find this to be a farce and insult."

"I find that I need to talk to my client," Zedd answered. "Excuse me."

Conner blinked. "You're good at this."

"I was an evil lord for years," he reminded him. "This is easy."

"Can you get me off?" Conner asked. Zedd nodded. He looked at the council. "I accept my representation!"

He was pretty sure it was an angry squeak that had come out of his mentor's mouth right then, but he didn't mind too much. Tommy would get over it and Kim seemed relieved. Zedd took a step forward and eyed all of them before looking back at the Conner. Finally, he spoke. "So, this is what happens when a good man dies," he said. The court was silent. "I have never seen such a destruction of justice held by people who are supposed to be on our side of good. This is a travesty that I'm having to intervene."

Conner wasn't sure how, but it felt even more quiet at that point. Jalindor looked surprised by the vitriol. "Ambassador..." he began, but Zedd shook his head.

"It's a power play for the planet," he said. "Earth is a battleground planet at this point. There's several different powers, active and inactive teams, and more forming constantly. It's why Zordon chose to be there when he needed a planet to work with. It's why Rita was prepared to take it."

Conner glanced around. Some of the council looked horrified, others looked annoyed, a few looked sheepish, and few looked surprised. Zedd had apparently called the the situation perfectly. He glanced over at Kim and Tommy, unsurprised that both looked furious. Billy was whispering something to them while Kira kept a hand on Ethan. Trent was the only one who matched his look as they realized at the same time that they'd been played. "A power play?" Conner asked.

Zedd nodded. "It wasn't SPD's fault," he assured him. "They were doing their job, but that doesn't account for everyone else here."

"What about Trent?" He asked. "How much of this is bogus?"

"All of it," Zedd answered. "SPD is a newer organization who isn't used to Rangers. They don't understand all of the precedents that came before. I checked with Zhane before I came in to double check, but there's an entirely different section for Rangers now. SPD was following an older handbook. While yes, you were responsible for Trent's actions, he was under a spell. Magic isn't enforced like that. So, we just need to finish the rest of this. Scorpina."

Conner winced. "I..." He started, but Zedd cut him off and looked at the rest of them.

"All of you can claim he broke the rules," he said, "But that doesn't take into account that they were in the middle of a war. Nor does it take into account that sometimes the right thing to do isn't the rule in place. For all of your talk about respect for Zordon, none of you have taken into account that he pushed a Ranger to destroy a good person: Himself. He did this because it was the last possible answer. And I've heard what happened here. Have you?"

The councilmembers looked a little more unsure though Conner wasn't sure if that was because they hadn't known or if they just didn't like the case it meant for them. He had the feeling it was a mix. He believed Zedd when he insisted that they were trying for a coup. Zedd looked at Conner and motioned for him to talk. Conner personally thought that was a terrible idea, but no one was stopping him and his lawyer was insisting, so he figured he'd do it anyway. "Scorpina wasn't trying to take over the world. She was trying to destroy it. She wasn't okay. All of this stuff that happened to her made her crazy. I went undercover so we'd know what she was doing. Her numbers outnumbered us and we would have lost the new Rangers. We did lose one of the new Rangers. So when she asked me to stab her and everything would stop, I did it," he said. He looked at the ground. "She was going to kill herself anyway. She just wanted me to hurt more. Or something."

"She wanted someone there she liked," Zedd said kindly. Conner looked at him in confused. "We were villains, Conner. The way we showed affection is toxic and harsh, but it's there."

"Explain," Jalindor said, motioning for Zedd to continue. Conner watched as Zedd schooled his features, but he could see the pain before he did. Zedd was on trial just as much as Conner right now.

"Like I said, we don't have normal ways of showing it. Sure, Rita and I did toward each other, I suppose, but that didn't stop us from fighting. Usually, it's more directed. A specific Ranger, a mentor, a random person..." He said. Jalindor caught on.

"You're saying that she planned this?" He asked and Zedd nodded.

"She was counting on him doing it," he said. He sighed and pulled back. "I'm going to finish this by saying three things: One, you can arrest Conner, but it will be seen as a political move and steps will be taken. Two, Conner is already grieving just like any Power Ranger would over doing something like that. Three, SPD is already working on Earth. They have a relationship with Earth's former Rangers to try to prepare for Grumm. How do you think those same Rangers would react if you aliened the royal family?"

Conner wasn't sure what happened, but he did recognize that they were letting him go as they were fighting among themselves. His cuffs were taken off and he made it back the others. Kim hugged him, Tommy squeezed his shoulder. The other three just grabbed him in various hugs, including Trent who looked just as relieved. Billy just nodded. He realized that the Blue Ranger realized what was going on a lot better than he did. "What just happened?" He whispered to Billy.

"Politics," Billy answered. At Conner's look, he sighed. "Zedd just made certain they'dleave Rita alone when she's trying to mentor since she'll be on Earth which is ruled by Tommy and Kim, in name anyway. Because he's the ambassador to Eltar, Zordon's homeworld, they were reminded that trying to grab the planet would mean dealing with Eltar as well which no one wants to do. It would end up in skirmishes which he just reminded them they can't do because there's a larger problem on the horizon and we need everyone working together."

"My brain hurts," Conner informed him. Billy sighed.

"So does Tommy's when I try to explain things. Kim just tunes me out with a 'I trust you, Billy! Just let me know when it's important' smile," Billy said. Conner snickered. "Brief version?"

"Please?" Conner asked.

"They're letting you go because they never should have arrested you in the first place and they will require your help with support later on," he answered.

"Oh," Conner said. "So what happens now?"

Billy frowned, but forced a smile for Conner. "Just enjoy today," he said. Conner didn't feel encouraged by that, but he headed over to Zedd instead.

"Thanks," he said. "We, uh, we talked to your wife a few times last year."

"She mentioned," Zedd said. "She thought you were good kids. Listen, Conner. It's not going to get easier over the next year and we're going to need all of your help out here."

"What do you need?" Conner asked curiously. He wasn't sure he was in the position to give Zedd what he needed, but after today, he was willing to try.

"I'm not sure yet," he admitted. Conner nodded.

"Okay," he agreed. "Just let me know."

Zedd gave a nod as Conner made his way back to his family. Tonight, they'd celebrate. Tomorrow, they'd figure out what would happen next.


End file.
